Display container



Feb. 7, 1950 R. I. PROMISEL DISPLAY CONTAINER 1% m w MA M INVENTOR Roasar 1'. PROM/55L Filed Jan. 26, 1949 Patented Feb. 7, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFKIE DISPLAY CONTAINER.

Robert I. Promisel, Winthrop, Mass. Application January: 26, 1949, Serial No. 72,879

4 Claims.

and a number of carriers placed within the, container for transportation from the site of manufacture to the ultimate retail seller. Carbonated beverages are bottled insix, eight, ten or twelve ounce bottles, and up to six of these bottles may be placed within a cardboard or metal carrier for easier handling by the ultimate purchaser thereof. For shipment from the bottler to the retail outlet, a number of these carriers are disposed within a wooden or metal crate, conventionallyopen atthe top thereof; Access; tothese crates-can be had-onlythroughtheopen top. Of course, to save floor space, a plurality of these crates or boxes are stackedyoneatop another, as high as is practicable in each individual instance. This. method, however, presents. considerable handling problems, because as the topmost crate is emptied of its contents, it must be removed from the stack and placed elsewhere before access can be had to the crate beneath it. Another disadvantage to this conventional crate or box is the fact that its contents can be viewed only when the crate top is below eye level.

The main object of the present invention, therefore, is the provision of an open topped crate or box (hereinafter referred to as a crate) which may be stacked readily, a wall portion of which crate can be swung away to permit the crate contents to be viewed at any level, the swung side being disposable atop the crate to aid in supporting additional crates thereon when stacked in vertical superposition.

Other, further and more detailed objects of the present invention will in part be obvious and in part pointed out specifically in connection with the following description of an illustrative embodiment thereof.

In the drawings annexed hereto, and forming a part hereof,

Figure 1 is an isometric view of one form of crate constructed according to and embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is an isometric view of a plurality of .2 crates in accordance with the invention stacked one atop the other;

Figure 3 is a vertical section on the lines; 3-3 of Figures 1 and 5;

Figure 4 is a section on the line 44 of Fig,- ure 2;

Figure 5 is a detail, enlarged, of the upper right hand corner of the crate;

Figure dis a detail, enlarged, of the front wall. locking mechanism; and

Figure 7 is a vertical section on the line 1-4 of Figure 6..

The crate according to the present invention is indicated by the reference numeral Ill; and comprises an open topped rectangular casing havingafioor I2, end orside walls t4, I4, a rear wall I B, and a front wall I8. The floor portion I2, end wall portions I4, I4, and rear wall portion I6, may be of conventional structure, se

- cured together by nails, screws, bolts or the like.

It is in structure connection and functioning-of. the front wall panel I8 that the crate of the present invention departs from the conventional-.2 The crate components may be formed of wood, plywood, fiber board, metal or the like, asdesired.

Front wall panel I8'is pivotally connected to end walls I4, I4, by double pintle hinges-20,v 20

(see Figures 3 and 4), one leaf 22 of each hinge 20 being secured to both upper corners of the wall panel, with the other leaf 24 of the hinges being secured to the upper front edges of the end walls I4, I4. In the form shown, the double pintle 26 consists of a squared ring of suitable metallic material, although, as may be convenient, the double pintle may comprise an intermediate plate and separate pivot pins connecting the plate to the outer leaves 24, 26. In the drawings, however, the squared ring functions similarly to permit front wall panel I8 to be swung outwardly away from the body of the crate and over onto the top of the crate, as in Figure 4 and the topmost crate of the stack in Figure 2. As seen in Figures 3 and 4, pintle portion 30 through loop 32 in leaf 22, and pintle portion 40 through loop 42 in leaf 24, are spaced apart by the leg components 50, 50 of ring 26. Legs 50, 50 are substantially equal in length to the thickness of wall panel I8 and the distance between the top of end walls I4, I4 and the situs of hinge leaves 24, 24. With this proportioning of parts, when front wall panel I8 is swung up and over onto the top of crate II], it will lie flatly thereon, to serve as a support for other crates to be stacked thereon, as shown in Figure 2,

be used in other fields as well.

A spring latch 80 may be provided adjacent the bottom edge of panel 18, slidably receivable in socket 62 in floor l2 to lock the front panel [8 to the crate during shipment, or at other times as desired, and for ready pivoting thereof. Also, if desired, an inwardly opening registering recess 10 may be formed along each lateral edge of panel [8, in line with a headed member 12 projecting forwardly from the front edges of walls [4, M to accurately align the several parts during handling or shipping of the crates.

With the box of the presently described con- .struction, which may, but need not have, dividing partitions as 16 on the floor thereof, articles .as carriers 80, 80 or otherwise may be disposed therein through the open top, or through the :front (if open). A plurality of crates l0, (four being shown in Figure 2) may be stacked :atop one another, and if the front wall panel components thereof are swung over the top thereof, as shown, the contents of all the boxes can be seen easily, and may be removed from all the boxes without further disturbing the boxes or their stacked arrangement. When four conventional boxes are stacked atop one another, the contents of only the topmost box will be visible. When these contents are removed, the box must be removed from the stack and set aside in order to expose the next box to ready access for the viewing and handling of its contents. In this way, two stacks are set up, occupying twice as much space and requiring the expenditure of time and effort in the handling, all of which is obviated with the device of the present invention.

A stack of boxes according to the present invention may be as high as space permits, for access can be had to any box in the stack without disturbing any other box in the stack.

It is to be understood that my invention is :not limited in use to the beverage field, but may My invention is :to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device of the character described comprising a generally rectangular open-topped container having a bottom, end walls, a rear wall, and a front wall, the front wall being pivotally secured to the end walls and being swingable outwardly from the casing to overlie the top of the casing and partially cover same resting flatly atop the end walls, thereby exposing the casing interior and contents to view through the front thereof whereby the front wall serves as a support for like containers stacked on top thereof.

2. A device of the character described as in claim 1, in which the pivotal securement of the front wall to the end walls is by double pintle hinges at the upper corners of the front wall and the upper front edges of the end walls.

3. A device of the character described as in claim 1, having lock means to releasably secure the front wall to the floor of the container.

4. A generally rectangular open-topped display container, having a bottom and four vertical wall components at right angles thereto, one of the vertical walls being pivotally connected to the walls on each side thereof, the pivotal connection being by double pintle hinges, one leaf of each of which is secured to the pivotal wall, the other leaf of each of which hinges is secured to the adjacent walls, the leaves being spaced apart sufficiently to permit the pivoted wall to swing outwardly from the casing and over atop the adjacent walls to rest thereon in parallelism to the bottom whereby said pivoted wall forms a support for like containers stacked on top thereof.

ROBERT I. PROMISEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 305,742 Coflin Sept. 30, 1884 1,336,972 Levene Apr. 13, 1920 1,916,642 Shelby July 4, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 64,806 Switzerland June 13, 1913 

